National, on-highway diesel prices dip down again; Gustav may have negative impact
Hurricane Gustav's threat to the Gulf Coast halted about 15 percent of U.S. refining capacity Sunday, though for now prices at the pump have not risen dramatically, The Associated Press reported.
The Trucker Staff
9/2/2008
National, on-highway diesel prices edged down 2.4 cents from last week, to $4.121 Sept. 1 from $4.145 the week before, the Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported today. Regular Monday reporting schedules were delayed a day by the Labor Day holiday.
In the California reporting region, prices slid down 7.7 cents, from $4.359 the week of Aug. 25 to $4.282 on Monday.
Also taking a deep decline was the Central Atlantic region, which saw prices go down 5.3 cents from the week before and the Rocky Mountain region, where prices dipped 4.3 cents in a week’s period of time, from $4.227 a week ago to $4.184 on Monday.
To see a chart with prices by region, click here.
Hurricane Gustav's threat to the Gulf Coast halted about 15 percent of U.S. refining capacity Sunday, though for now prices at the pump have not risen dramatically, The Associated Press reported.
However, analysts and others say a prolonged disruption in refining operations could cause price spikes of 20 cents per gallon or more, not unlike the surges after hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated the region's energy infrastructure three years ago.
Exxon Mobil Corp., Royal Dutch Shell PLC and Valero Energy Corp., North America's largest refiner, were among the companies that said they had shut down Gulf Coast refineries, primarily in south Louisiana.
Altogether, about 2.4 million barrels of refining capacity have been halted, roughly 15 percent of the nation's total, according to figures from Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos. The U.S. Gulf Coast is home to nearly half the nation's refining capacity.
"Fifteen percent looks small, but the impact is larger than meets the eye," said Eswaran Ramasamy, director of Platts' U.S. market reporting. "Louisiana refineries supply a chunk of the southern states' product needs — gasoline, diesel, whatever."